Joey Payeur
The Muskie senior boys’ basketball team of late maintained a theme of having one big wheel in the offence.
This year’s squad is going to need all the spokes working together if it is going to get rolling anywhere.
The black-and-gold began its new season by going 0-3 at the Play It Again Sports Tiger Tip Off tournament in Thunder Bay over the weekend.
But while wins were not forthcoming, co-coach Greg Ste. Croix said some valuable lessons were learned.
“For our first set of games, it was definitely positive,” said Ste. Croix, who is in charge of the team while last year’s sideline boss, Bryce Coyle, recovers from an ailment.
“We found out a few areas we have to work on but that’s what it’s all about,” he reasoned.
“Identifying those areas and allowing the team to work on them in practice.”
While the past few seasons have seen the team revolve around a go-to scorer such as Will Anderson and Caleb McIntosh, Ste. Croix was clear this year’s squad will need to go a different route to prosper.
“When all is said and done, we should have a much more balanced attack from the first guy to the last,” said Ste. Croix, whose team won NorWOSSA silver last season.
“We’re in a spot where everyone needs to contribute.
“If we’re relying on one guy, that won’t be good for us,” he added.
“I would be very surprised if the same person led us in scoring every single game.”
Such was the case in Thunder Bay over the weekend, which saw the Muskies stay close in all three games through the first half before letting it get away from them in the second.
In Fort High’s opener against the Superior Gryphons (Thunder Bay), the locals only were down 28-23 at halftime, but watched their offence struggle in the second half as they fell 56-38.
Jacob Empey led the Muskies with eight points, with Connor Bujold adding six and Braeden Caul five.
In their second game, Fort High hung tough with the St. Ignatius Falcons to only trail 29-23 after two quarters.
But the Falcons pulled away for a 60-40 victory.
Empey had eight points in that one while Aaron Kavanaugh added seven.
Ian Jodoin and Liam Metke each had six.
And it was the same story in the Muskies’ third game, with the Churchill Trojans (Thunder Bay) leading just 18-15 at halftime.
But the Trojans’ offence caught fire in the second half, while the defence held the Muskies to only nine points, en route to a 44-24 victory.
Bujold, Kirk Johnson, and Kevin Metke each had four points in a losing cause.
“The big thing is getting the guys to trust their instincts,” said Ste. Croix.
“I’m not saying the guys are scared to make a mistake but they just don’t trust themselves right now,” he noted.
“That will come with more time on the floor and that was the good thing about the tournament is that everyone got some good court time, which is usually not the case,” Ste. Croix added.
The core leadership group of the team will feature Johnson, Caul, and Derek Kaemingh—three players taking their “victory lap” after graduating from Grade 12 last year.
They will be joined by Grade 12 players in Bujold, Kevin Metke, Henry Geyshick, and Alex Gustafson to help guide the Grade 11 contingent of Empey, Jodoin, Kavanaugh, Liam Metke, and Joey Angus.
“Leadership is really important, especially from those [Grade] 12-plus guys, for sure,” stressed Ste. Croix.
“They’ve been through the wars.
“It’s great getting a guy back like Derek, who was on the junior team and then took two years off to play hockey, and now he’s back in the mix,” Ste. Croix added.
“He’s grown at least two-four inches since he was on the junior squad.”
The Muskies open the NorWOSSA regular season here Dec. 11 against the Kenora Broncos.
